So Many Dishes

I blame the fact that I eat much too fast on having been a teacher. Lunch period was always too short, and there was always too much to do. I rarely had the chance to enjoy my meal.

The problem is, it’s a hard habit to break. It didn’t help that Ken’s medical issue last year made it impossible for him to sit for more than a couple of minutes at a time. The focus we had put on eating more slowly went out the window. Now that he’s better, we’re working again to eat at a more leisurely pace.

We definitely managed to have a slow, relaxed dinner Tuesday evening, since it turned into a special meal. I had originally asked Ken to make his pasta with red clam sauce for Mother’s Day, as I mentioned in my holiday post. We ended up choosing something else, but Ken decided to make his special sauce for his weekly Tuesday dinner. It was like having another celebration.

I’m not sure where Ken found the recipe he based this on. It might have been one of my mother’s cookbooks, or maybe one he perused in a bookstore. Wherever it came from, he did his best to memorize the recipe and recreate it at home. It always turns out wonderfully. He measures some ingredients, but with the seasonings, it’s all approximations. He says it’s easy, and I tell him there’s nothing wrong with that!

Ken’s Clam Pasta

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 14-ounce cans fire-roasted diced tomatoes, “lightly drained” (don’t drain all the liquid from the can)
• 3 6-ounce cans chopped clams, lightly drained
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Cooked pasta, to serve. Makes enough sauce for one pound of spaghetti.

Heat oil in a skillet. Add garlic and sauté for one minute. Stir in tomatoes, clams, wine, seasonings, and sugar. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 30 minutes, covered. Serve over cooked spaghetti. Serves 4 – 6.

Because of the amount of liquid, the sauce is thinner than most pasta sauces. I suspect it would be fine if you cooked it uncovered, to cook off some of the liquid, it would be fine. But this is Ken’s recipe, and the entire family loves it this way.

Our market has had really nice baby leaf lettuce, so I made a simple green salad and dressed it with—you guessed it— olive oil and calamansi vinegar. I’m going to cry when that bottle is empty 😄

All in all, with a glass of wine, it felt like a second celebration of Mother’s Day: a delicious relaxing meal.

Happy eating!